Kiprusoff Bests Temps, Pucks, For First Outdoor Shutout

CALGARY — Until the Montreal Canadiens brought the heat with 21 shots in Sunday’s second period, the challenge for Miikka Kiprusoff of the Calgary Flames wasn’t stopping frozen rubber, but avoiding frozen fingers and toes.

Kiprusoff faced just eight shots in the opening 20 minutes the 2011 Tim Horton‘s Heritage Classic at McMahon Stadium, but then turned aside all 21 shots the Canadiens unloaded at him in the second period on the way to a 4-0 Calgary win.

All told, Kiprusoff made 39 saves on the way to his fourth shutout of the season, No. 38 of his career and the first recorded in the six games the NHL has staged outdoors.

“They had a pretty slow start,” Kiprusoff said, talking about Montreal’s inability to get on track offensively. “They didn’t shoot that many in the first.

“I was a little nervous, like if they get some 2-on-1s or something. I was pretty cold in the first, but I had something under my stuff. During the second, they started shooting more, too. I felt better there.”

Kiprusoff didn’t have a lot to do early, particularly in the first 10 minutes of the game as the Flames carried the play. The Flames held a 13-3 edge in shots when Rene Bourque scored to make it 1-0 at 8:09.

There was no standing around for Kiprusoff in the second period as the Canadiens came out firing. Montreal’s 21 shots set a single-period shots record for the six outdoor games, eclipsing the 19 the Flames directed at Montreal’s Carey Price in the first period.

“He played great; “especially early,” Calgary captain Jarome Iginla said of his goalie. “He didn’t get a lot of shots, but all of a sudden there would be a point-blank shot.

“I think he made a couple of leg kicks early when he had to be pretty stiff, but he looked great. It’s funny because as hard as it is for players to get used to it (the cold) off the start, it’s got to be way harder for the goalies staying warm.

“We’re on the bench. We’re coming to the bench and we’re warming up and stuff. You forget, they’re stuck out there.”

So, what was more difficult, finding a way to stay warm during without much to do during a chilly first period or turning aside all that rubber in the second period?

“The first period was real cold,” said Kiprusoff, who retreated to the warmth of the Calgary bench every opportunity he got during play stoppages. “We had to stand outside there a little bit and there were some problems with the ice.

“Those guys had a pretty nice set-up there. It was warm. They were nice enough to give me a little room there to sit down.”

With extra layers on, the challenge for Kiprusoff early was to keep his fingers and toes warm.

“My toes,” Kiprusoff said. “My hands felt alright. That was one worry, too. It’s not fun to catch the puck if you have cold fingers. We knew it was going to be a cold day.”

Price’s Early Heroics Not Enough To Save The Habs

CAREY PRICE

GOALIE – MTL

RECORD: 27–20–6
GAA: 2.42 | SVP: 0.919

CALGARY — A passing glance at the final score of the 2011 Tim Hortons NHL Heritage Classic would indicate a lopsided game. But without a strong effort from Carey Price, especially in the first period, the Montreal Canadiens‘ 4-0 loss to the Calgary Flames at McMahon Stadium could have been a lot worse.

Price faced 19 shots in the opening 20 minutes and allowed only one goal, a redirection by Rene Bourque during a 5-on-3 power play for the Flames. His early heroics provided the Canadiens with a chance to turn the game around, and they peppered Miikka Kiprusoff with shots early in the second period but couldn’t solve him.

 

Montreal Canadiens-Calgary Flames: Fire and Ice, the Heritage Classic is Upon Us

45,000-plus fans and media are ready to brave the frigid temperature of Calgary, Alberta tonight in the second ever NHL Heritage Classic. The last classic took place eight years ago with these same Montreal Canadiens taking on the Edmonton Oilers.

After a few days of festivities the hype is over, the PR jobs are done and the players are ready. Today, at 6:00 PM EST, the puck drops for the 2011 Heritage Classic at McMahon Stadium in Calgary.

Lost in the publicly televised Habs practice, the players trying on different types of long underwear, hoods and socks, and the chicken broth at the bench to help keep them warm is the fact there there are a hugely important two points on the line tonight.

Standings

The Habs, who have been in a free fall of late going 1-3-2 in their last six games, need the win to keep pace with the Bruins and keep a buffer on the teams behind them. More importantly, they just need a good showing and two points will go a long way towards turning around a road trip thatstarted on a terrible note in Edmonton on Thursday.

A win will also snap a two-game losing streak by the Habs.

The outlook is decidedly more positive in Calgary where the once cellar-dwelling Flames have turned their season around, sitting in a four-way tie for fifth overall in the West with 68 points.

Calgary is actually in ninth at the moment due to their 60 games played and 30 wins to the Ducks‘ 32, Stars‘ 31 and Kings‘ 32. However, going 7-1-2 in their last ten games and 10-1-2 in their last 13, the Flames are a team on fire—pun fully intended.

Goaltending

Carey Price will get his 53rd start of the season and will be donning his new Heritage Classic mask.

For those who haven’t yet seen it, take a look at these pictures because it’s a bit difficult to describe and a bit hilarious to look at!

Well at least I think so.

For the Flames, expect Miikka Kiprusoff to get his 13th straight start and 52nd of the year.

Price has the better numbers out of the two, but stats don’t necessarily matter in a game where the sun will be shining brightly and possibly making it more difficult for these work-horse netminders.

Special Teams and Scoring

The Flames are a much more offensive team than Montreal with their eighth overall 2.9 goals-for per game, to the Habs anemic 25th overall 2.6 per game. The Habs, however, have the edge in the goals-against department with their eighth overall 2.5 per game to the Flames 17th overall 2.8.

As such, you would expect this game to feature defense versus offense meaning the that Price will have to be sharp.

The Habs have a huge advantage in the special teams department with the ninth best power play at 19 percent, and sixth overall PK at 84.8 percent. The Flames will counter with a below average 19th overall PP at 16.8 percent and 17th overall PK at 81.4 percent.

Despite the Habs top-10 PP, they have gone only 2-for-16 in their last four games for a pitiful 12.5 percent efficiency.

Roster Changes

Montreal is getting a bevy of players back in the lineup today with the return of Hal Gill, Michael Cammalleri and supposedly James Wizniewski. The Wiz, who took a shot in the face last game and went to the hospital with a severe facial laceration, was practicing yesterday with a full face cage, a wicked shiner and a Frankenstein-like gash on his face.

Even if the Habs only get Cammy and Gill back, it will provide a well needed boost for the team.

If we go by the lines at practice yesterday, it looks like David Desharnais will finally be getting his shot as the second line center, playing between Cammalleri and Benoit Pouliot.

Defenseman Jaroslav Spacek continues to be on the sidelines with no real word on the extent of his injury or potential length of absence from the lineup.

The Flames are a relatively healthy team but continue to be without the services of Daymond Langkow, Raitis Ivanans and Adam Pardy.

The puck drops at 6:00 PM EST.

Tomas Kaberle dealt to to Bruins for Joe Colborne and Picks: A Big Anti-Climax ?

Since Brian Burke joined the Toronto Maple Leafs on November 29th of 2008, the rumours of Tomas Kaberle’s departure in a trade began. The skilled defenseman lacked the size and nastiness Burke was thought to be looking for in his defense. He was certainly gone, sooner rather than later.

For the past two and a half years, I have barely gone a week without seeing someone twitter, squeek, blog or even just plain write about a possible Kaberle deal. The list of players rumoured to be sought in those deals is as unrecoverable as it is unimaginable. Among players purported to be heading to Toronto for the middling offensive defenseman were Anze Kopitar, Brad Richards, Vincent Lecavalier, Ales Hemsky, Jarome Iginla, Corey Perry, Daniel Briere; well it just didn’t end.

At the last NHL entry draft Burke said he had received three offers and one insult for the defenseman. He insisted all along that a possible trade for Tomas Kaberle must include one scoring forward and one first round draft pick.

My contention was that he wasn’t worth a first half of a first round draft pick or a very good offensive forward. Couple that with the no-trade contract and the diminishing time he was under contract, and it seemed very likely that Kaberle was going to be moved at the deadline for a fourth round pick if he was even traded at all.

Two and a half years of frantic speculation were likely to dissolve into a cloud of internet ether never to be recovered. Kaberle would quietly sign with a Stanley Cup contender in the off-season and every story I’d read on the topic, every minute I spent on it, would have been a complete waste of time.

Instead Brian Burke, a week before the trade deadline, managed to move Kaberle to a Boston Bruins team that despite injury has a chance to come through the Eastern half of the NHL playoffs. Burke got a forward. Mind you, Joe Colborne is a long way from being an NHL offensive forward.

The kid from Calgary is huge at 6′ 5″ and 210 lbs. At 21 he is a half point a game player in the AHL. What’s worse the playmaker seems to lack the physical nastiness Burke wants in all his players. The 2008 first rounder didn’t feature in the Bruins plans in the near future, but he’s likely to see his career advance quicker in Toronto. The desperation for a center to play with Kessel will see Colborne getting a chance as early as next year. He’s a fair skater but he will have trouble staying with Kessel.

Burke also got a first round pick back for Kaberle. The Bruins depth in picks made it much easier for them to give up their first rounder. If they finish in the Eastern Finals or better, the pick at best will be 26th overall.

Toronto also gets a second round pick conditional on the Bruins making the Stanley Cup finals or re-signing Kaberle after this season.

The talented Kaberle will do well in Boston and should be great at feeding Chara on the point of the power play. This will be a nice opportunity for him to show his skills on a playoff team.

Brian Burke has managed to get a lot for a rental player like Kaberle, who while good is certainly not an elite NHL player. The time and care he has taken to make this deal has been well worth it.

I’m not a Brian Burke fan, but the trading of the last three months of Kaberle’s contract for a first round and potential second round draft pick and a prospect is impressive. Throw in his ability to move Beauchemin for potential and this has been a very good run up to trade deadline for Brian Burke.

Despite the ridiculous amount of attention the struggle to trade one Toronto Maple Leaf has gotten over the last two years it has apparently all been worth it in the end. Next time though I just want to read the final story not the thousand previews.

 

 

NHL Pre-Game Review 11-29-2010

Pens, Rangers continue pursuit of Flyers

	STATS
25	GP	25
15	W	14
8	L	10
2	OT	1
32	P	29
0.640	P%	0.580
2.96	G/G	2.88
2.44	GA/G	2.64
16.4	PP%	16.3
90.2	PK%	82.6
32.0	S/G	27.6
28.2	SA/G	30.6
49.8	FO%	44.4

DATE	VIS/HOME	FINAL
Nov 15, 2010	NYR@PIT	NYR, 3 – 2

PENGUINS (15-8-2) at RANGERS (14-10-1)

TV: FS-P (HD), MSG (HD)

Last 10: Pittsburgh 8-1-1; New York 7-3-0

Season series: This is the second of six meetings between the clubs this season. The first one was a thriller won by the Rangers in overtime, 3-2, on Nov. 15.

Big Story — Both Atlantic Division teams are playing well yet neither can catch the red-hot Flyers. This is the first time they’ve seen each other since that fantastic finish in Pittsburgh two weeks ago. Chris Kunitz scored the tying goal with 2:31 left in regulation and Matt Cooke gave the Penguins the lead 38 seconds later. Pittsburgh went on a power play right after Cooke’s goal when Henrik Lundqvistwhacked his stick over the crossbar and received an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. However, Rangers defenseman Marc Staal managed to slither in a shorthanded goal with 1:26 to play and then Ryan Callahan won it for the Blueshirts in overtime on a fantastic 2-on-1 with Brandon Dubinsky.

Team Scope:

Penguins — Six years into his career and Sidney Crosby has arguably never been better. Crosby is on pace for his best season ever and he enters Monday leading the NHL with 40 points on 18 goals and 22 assists. He recorded his first hat trick of the season and sixth of his career in Saturday’s 4-1 win over Calgary. He nearly had four goals, but he missed on a penalty shot in the first period. Crosby’s second goal Saturday was the 200th of his career. He’s simply on fire, and not coincidentally so is his team. Crosby has 12 goals and 13 assists for 25 points during his current 12 game point streak.

“An elite-level player like him has great creativity in his game and a tremendous skill set,” Calgary coach Brent Sutter said of Crosby following Saturday’s game. “It’s because of his work ethic, and how hard he plays every shift.”

Rangers — The Rangers return home winners of four of their last five games. The big thing about the wins in Florida and Nashville over the weekend was that Henrik Lundqvist got his act together. Lundqvist was struggling with a personal three game losing streak heading into the game against the Panthers, but he made 40 saves for the shutout in Sunrise, Fla. and another 29 saves in a 2-1 shootout victory in the Music City. Lundqvist was perfect against three Nashville shooters in the skills competition.

“I put a lot of pressure on myself (in shootouts) because I want to help the team get that extra point,” Lundqvist said. “Last season showed that extra point can be huge. To come up with all three stops in the shootout felt really good for me.”

Who’s Hot — Penguins defenseman Kris Letang picked up three assists in Saturday’s win and now has 18 on the season and 22 points. Rangers forward Ryan Callahan scored his second goal in as many games Saturday after going five games without a goal. Callahan’s last goal prior to scoring in Florida was the OT winner in Pittsburgh two weeks ago.

Injury Report — The Penguins are still waiting for Jordan Staal (broken hand) to get on the ice this season. He’s at least on the mend for the second time. The Rangers are still without Chris Drury (finger) and Vinny Prospal (knee). Michal Rozsival returned Saturday after sitting out nine games, but Marian Gaborik missed the game in Nashville with the flu. They’re hoping he’s fine for Monday’s game at MSG.

Stat Pack — Lundqvist on Saturday improved to 31-21 for his career in games decided by a shootout. … The Rangers’ power play is 41 for 45 (91.1 percent) in the last 13 games. Their record over that time is 8-5-0. … The Penguins have allowed only four goals in their last four games and entered Sunday ranked fifth in the NHL in goals against (2.36).

Puck Drop — Rangers coach John Tortorella reportedly talked with the team prior to Saturday’s game in Nashville about fighting through fatigue. The message got through as the team did just enough to pick up two points despite playing their third road game in four nights.

“We talked about it in our (pregame) meeting that if we want to get to where we want to be at the end of the year, this is the kind of game — last of a road trip, coming off a big win, played a lot of games in this stretch here — we have to find a way to win,” Tortorella said. “These are the points at the end of the year that kill you if you don’t get them. It was a good gut-check for us in getting points that we needed to get.”

First-place Stars visit Carolina

	STATS
22	GP	23
13	W	10
8	L	10
1	OT	3
27	P	23
0.614	P%	0.500
2.82	G/G	3.00
2.73	GA/G	3.09
15.6	PP%	17.3
76.8	PK%	76.8
28.0	S/G	31.3
31.3	SA/G	33.8
48.7	FO%	40.3

DATE	VIS/HOME	FINAL
Dec 16, 2009	DAL@CAR	CAR, 5 – 3
Nov 23, 2009	CAR@DAL	DAL, 2 – 0

STARS (13-8-1) at HURRICANES (10-10-3)

TV: VERSUS, TSN2. 

Last 10: Dallas 5-4-1; Carolina 4-3-3.

Season Series: This is the first of two meetings between the teams. They’ll meet again at American Airlines Center on Dec. 10.

Big Story: While many thought the Pacific Division would boil down to Los Angeles and San Jose, here are the Dallas Stars, who enter Monday’s action locked in a first-place tie with the Phoenix Coyotes. Behind some stellar goaltending by Kari Lehtonen(11-7-1, 2.70 goals-against average), the Stars have reeled off three straight victories and can gain sole possession of first place with a victory on Monday night.

“Last year we got a taste of his potential, and this year he’s just been tremendous,” Stars defensemanMatt Niskanen said of Lehtonen, who was acquired last season from Atlanta. “He competes on every puck and is fundamentally sound. You don’t have to worry when you have a goalie that is playing really solid behind you. The whole team has confidence in him, and he’s given the whole team confidence to do what we need to do with the puck. We don’t have to be nervous.”

Team Scope:

Stars: Dallas made it three in a row on Saturday night when it completed a home-and-home sweep of the St. Louis Blues with a 2-1 victory at the Scottrade Center. Jamie Benn and Loui Eriksson scored for the Stars, while Lehtonen made 35 saves. Dallas rallied in both of its wins against the Blues.

“I knew we have that in this group,” Lehtonen said. “If we go down one or two goals, I just need to keep playing the same way and not get rattled and just believe in this group. Against a team that you battle for the playoffs, getting four points against them is great. We can build on this and move forward.”

Hurricanes: Sure they would have liked a victory, but the fact that Eric Staal‘s goal with 7.3 seconds remaining prevented the Hurricanes from leaving Verizon Center empty-handed has to have them in a somewhat decent mood. Staal’s goal erased a 2-1 deficit in what turned out to be a 3-2 shootout loss to the Washington Capitals.

“We battled back against a good team and fought hard,” Staal said. “It’s a tough way to lose. We’ve got to find a way to win the shootout. We managed to get a point, but it would have been nice to get a win at the end.”

Who’s Hot: Brad Richards leads the Stars with 28 points (11 goals, 17 assists) in 22 games, while Eriksson is 10-14-24 and is tops with a plus-12 rating. … Staal’s goal on Sunday was his 11th of the season. He also had an assist and played more than 26 minutes.

Injury Report: Stars defenseman Mark Fistric (groin) is on the injured reserve list. … Carolina is boasting a healthy lineup.

Stat Pack: Dallas is 5-1-1 in its last seven games and is now 5-5 on the road. … Sunday marked the 1,000th NHL game coached by Carolina’s Paul Maurice. Maurice is the 19th coach to reach the milestone, and the youngest at 43 years and 302 days old.

Puck Drop: “We’ve been good, but we’ve got to be better. We’ve got to be better because the Western Conference is better and everybody is playing and performing well.” — Dallas Stars coach Marc Crawford

Sens continue homestand against Oilers

	STATS
22	GP	24
6	W	11
12	L	12
4	OT	1
16	P	23
0.364	P%	0.479
2.50	G/G	2.38
3.86	GA/G	2.96
14.5	PP%	18.4
67.4	PK%	80.6
25.5	S/G	28.0
35.1	SA/G	32.0
45.1	FO%	51.6

DATE	VIS/HOME	FINAL
Mar 9, 2010	OTT@EDM	OTT, 4 – 1
Nov 10, 2009	EDM@OTT	OTT, 4 – 3

OILERS (6-12-4) at SENATORS (11-12-1)

TV: RDS, SNET-W, SNET-E. 

Last 10: Edmonton 2-6-2; Ottawa 4-6-0.

Season Series: This is the first of two meetings between the teams. They’ll meet again at Rexall Place on Feb. 12, 2011.

Big Story: Monday marks the second of a four-game homestand for the Senators, who bounced back from a 2-1 loss at Pittsburgh with a 3-0 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night at Scotiabank Place. The Sens finally got contributions from the line of Mike Fisher-Alex Kovalev-Milan Michalek, as the trio accounted for all of the offense.

“It’s nice to see those guys score goals,” Sens forward Jason Spezza said. “They’ve had a lot of chances lately and it’s nice to see them get rewarded.”

Team Scope:

Oilers: Edmonton nearly rallied from a 4-1 deficit on Saturday night, but fell short in a 4-3 loss to the San Jose Sharks at Rexall Place. Sam Gagner, Shawn Horcoff and Jim Vandermeer scored for the Oilers, while  Devan Dubnyk made 21 saves.

“The effort was there, I think,” Horcoff said. “But we need wins right now. I think against an experienced team like they are — 10 minutes they took it to us and we weren’t able to hold them off.”

Senators: Just a few hours before his team earned a hard-fought win against the Leafs, team owner Eugene Melnyk gave his group of a vote of confidence. Ottawa had only one victory in its previous five games before blanking Toronto. Brian Elliott made 29 saves in the win.

“Everybody would be a lot happier if we had a different record and kind of reversed things,” Melnyk told the Sens’ web site. “But (Friday) was a really, really important game to see what we can do as a team. Anytime you go out there and take 40-plus shots on a goaltender and you’re playing an elite team and just coming up that short … it’s kind of disheartening. But on the other hand, you look at it and say it could have gone either way. There’s so many chances.

“It just continues to prove what I’ve been talking about, and that is it’s a game of inches and it’s brutal at times.”

Who’s Hot: Oilers rookie Taylor Hall has two goals and two assists in his last five games. … Elliott’s shutout on Saturday was his second of the season. It lowered his goals-against average to 2.94 and raised his save percentage to .911.

Injury Report: Oilers winger Ales Hemsky and goalie Nikolai Khabibulin are both nursing groin injuries and are day-to-day. … Ottawa is boasting a healthy lineup.

Stat Pack: Edmonton rookie Magnus Paajarvi has gone 11 straight games without a point. … Sens goalie Pascal Leclaire has stopped 90 of the last 96 shots he’s faced.

Puck Drop:  “I think our guys put 150 per cent (effort) in, every one of them. Now we have a healthy team and I think you’re going to see a lot of good things coming out of the team on the ice … Don’t underestimate this team or the heart of this team or the experience or I think, most importantly, their will to win. These are tough guys and they’re not going to put up with giving up games like this anymore. Trust me on that.” — Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk

Struggling Flames return home to face Wild

	STATS
22	GP	23
11	W	9
9	L	12
2	OT	2
24	P	20
0.545	P%	0.435
2.54	G/G	2.70
2.73	GA/G	2.96
25.0	PP%	14.1
83.5	PK%	82.3
24.8	S/G	31.2
32.5	SA/G	29.8
51.7	FO%	48.2

DATE	VIS/HOME	FINAL
Nov 5, 2010	CGY@MIN	MIN, 2 – 1

WILD (11-9-2) at FLAMES (9-12-2)

TV: FS-N (HD), SNET-CGY (HD)

Last 10: Minnesota 5-5-0; Calgary 3-5-2

Season series: Second of six meetings this season between these Northwest Division rivals. Martin Havlat scored the decisive goal 4:20 into the third period as Minnesota won 2-1 on home ice back on Nov. 5. Rene Bourque opened the scoring for Calgary before Cal Clutterbuck evened things up later in the first period. Winning goalie Niklas Backstrom stopped 33 shots.

Big story: The Flames are back home following a difficult 1-2-2 road trip. While it featured the 10,000th goal in franchise history, scored shorthanded by Curtis Glencross in Philadelphia on Friday, they totaled just nine goals in five games (not counting the decisive goal credited for their shootout win over the Flyers). The Wild, meanwhile, have been struggling to keep the puck out of their own net, yielding 20 goals while losing three of their last four games.

Team Scope:

Wild: Backstrom has seen his goals-against average and save percentage take a major hit over his last three starts, as he’s given up 18 goals on 96 shots. Veteran backup Jose Theodore started in a 5-2 win over Nashville on Friday before Minnesota turned back to Backstrom the following night in Colorado. The Wild suffered a 7-4 defeat, with Backstrom getting pulled for Theodore in the third period.

“He wasn’t sharp but the players in front didn’t help him,” coach Todd Richards said. “I really liked our first period. Then the game gets away from us and we make a couple of bad decisions with the puck.”

Flames: Bourque notched the shootout winner as Calgary got a big two points in Philadelphia on Friday, but the Flames came up short in trying to complete a two-day sweep of Pennsylvania, dropping a 4-1 decision in Pittsburgh on Saturday. They became the latest NHL team to have no answers for Penguins superstar Sidney Crosby, who recorded the hat trick and extended his points streak to 12 games.

“Up until tonight, I thought we had a good trip,” defenseman Mark Giordano said. “We were playing well. We got points in three of four games and we did deserve maybe a better fate than that. Tonight, we didn’t play well. We know we didn’t play well. We know we have to get on a roll at some point and start piling up some wins.”

Who’s hot: Martin Havlat has 4 goals and 9 assists over his last eight games for the Wild. … In addition to his shootout goal against the Flyers, Bourque had the Flames’ only goal in losses to the Devils and Penguins.

Injury report: Minnesota defenseman Clayton Stoner is out indefinitely with an upper-body injury. Already on injured reserve are goalie Josh Harding (ACL/MCL) and forwards Pierre-Marc Bouchard (concussion), James Sheppard (knee), Chuck Kobasew (groin) and Guillaume Latendresse (sports hernia/hip).

Calgary has defenseman Adam Pardy (shoulder) and forwards Daymond Langkow (neck),Ryan Stone (knee), Ales Kotalik (knee) and Raitis Ivanans (concussion) on injured reserve.

Stat pack: Kyle Brodziak made the most of his nearly 14 minutes of ice time in the Wild’s loss on Saturday, scoring a pair of goals, recording a plus-2 rating and getting into a fight. … Kiprusoff made 24 of his 39 saves Saturday in the first period.

Puck drop: Calgary managed to escape the first period against Pittsburgh in a scoreless tie thanks to the brilliance of its goaltender, but Kiprusoff was unable to win the game by himself.

“We’ve got to give Miikka a rest,” forward Olli Jokinen told the Calgary Herald. “We didn’t have any business still being in the game after two periods but we were still in because of him. We’ve got to find a way.”

Kings, Ducks set to renew rivalry

	STATS
22	GP	25
13	W	11
9	L	11
0	OT	3
26	P	25
0.591	P%	0.500
2.73	G/G	2.56
2.50	GA/G	3.04
15.7	PP%	21.2
86.7	PK%	82.9
29.1	S/G	28.7
28.4	SA/G	34.8
49.1	FO%	48.6

DATE	VIS/HOME	FINAL
Apr 6, 2010	LAK@ANA	LAK, 5 – 4
Apr 3, 2010	ANA@LAK	ANA, 2 – 1
Feb 8, 2010	LAK@ANA	ANA, 4 – 2
Feb 4, 2010	ANA@LAK	LAK, 6 – 4
Jan 14, 2010	ANA@LAK	LAK, 4 – 0
Dec 1, 2009	LAK@ANA	LAK, 4 – 3

KINGS (13-9-0) at DUCKS (11-11-3)

TV — FS-W (HD), KDOC (HD)

Last 10 — Los Angeles 4-6-0; Anaheim 4-4-2

Season series — This is the first of six regular-season meetings between these Pacific Division rivals. The Kings took the 2009-10 season series with a 4-1-1 record.

Big Story — The Kings will try to avoid a season-high fourth striaght loss as they face a struggling Ducks team that had lost six straight before a solid 6-4 win at the Phoenix Coyotes on Saturday. Los Angeles has also lost five of its last seven on the road, so it will look to turn its fortunes around with a visit to Anaheim.

Team Scope:

Kings — Los Angeles began the month of November with four straight wins, which extended its then winning streak to six in a row, dating from Oct. 28 to Nov. 13. However, the Kings have dropped six of seven games since then and only totaled 16 goals over that span when compared to 21 during the winning streak.

The Kings have also been outscored 9-4 during their current three-game losing streak and are now in 9th place in the Western Conference. To get an idea of how tight the West is this season, L.A. sat atop the entire conference following its most recent win over the Boston Bruins on Nov. 20th.

“Scoring is something we’ve got to make it happen, we have to pay a price in order to score sometimes,” coach Terry Murray told the team’s web site Saturday.

Ducks — While Anaheim has lost six of its last seven, it is far from out of the race in the West. Their 25 points has the Ducks at only 11th place in the conference, but a win over the Kings Monday can catapult them right back into the playoff picture. The Coyotes and Avalanche are tied for the Pacific Division lead with only 27 points.

A sign that the offense is finally turning it around was found on Saturday as the Ducks’ top line of Bobby Ryan, Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf exploded for 10 points in a big win at Glendale, AZ. The penalty killing unit also held its own, limiting the Coyotes to only one power-play tally out of six chances.

“I would say our penalty killing bailed us out,” Anaheim coach Randy Carlyle said after the game, “and then our big guys that get paid all the money scored some goals for us.”

Who’s Hot — For the Kings, Justin Williams had a three-game points streak snapped on Saturday. Bobby Ryan notched a hat trick Saturday and now has five goals over his last four games for the Ducks.

Injury Report — The Kings have two skaters on injured reserve: Alex Ponikarovsky (broken finger) is out for at least another week, while while Willie Mitchell (broken left wrist) will be out until at least mid-December. … For the Ducks, Teemu Selanne remains day-to-day with a groin injury. Forwards Jason Jaffray (knee), Matt Beleskey (concussion) and Kyle Chipchura(concussion) are all on injured reserve for Anaheim, as is Joffrey Lupul (back) who could return for his season debut at some point in early December.

Stat Pack — Ducks goalie Jonas Hiller is 5-2-0 with a 1.85 goals-against average at home against Los Angeles.

Puck Drop — In their last five losses, the Kings managed a respectable 1.8 goal differential. However, a close loss won’t net you two points in the standings and the Kings know they need to continue grinding it out to get themselves back in the win column.

“We haven’t been blown out of games, we’ve been in games but we just can’t get over this little hump we’re on,” said defenseman Rob Scuderi following Saturday’s loss. “If we stick with it, don’t panic and stick together, I think we’ll be a better team because of it, but we just need to keep our heads about us.”

NHL Capsule 11-27-2010

PITTSBURGH, Pa. – Sidney Crosby scored three times after Calgary goalie Miikka Kiprusoff stopped him on a penalty shot early in the game and the Pittsburgh Penguins won their sixth in a row, beating the Flames 4-1 on Saturday behind backup goalie Brent Johnson.

Crosby made it 2-0 in the second period by putting in Chris Kunitz’s rebound, then scored his 200th career goal midway through the third when Paul Martin’s shot from above the circles deflected off Crosby’s stick.

Crosby completed his sixth regular-season hat trick and first this season by scoring into an empty net with 36.4 seconds left during a Flames power play in which Calgary created a two-man advantage by pulling Kiprusoff.

Crosby has 12 goals and 13 assists during a 12-game scoring streak. He has 18 goals overall.

The Penguins’ winning streak is their longest since they won seven in a row in October 2009.

Johnson made 30 saves during his first start since Nov. 10 against Boston, but lost his shutout when Rene Bourque scored his 11th goal and second in three games at 13:03 of the third.

Arron Asham also scored for Pittsburgh.

GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP)—Bobby Ryan had his second career hat trick to help Anaheim erase a two-goal deficit and snap Phoenix’s winning streak at seven games.

Ryan scored three of Anaheim’s five consecutive goals after Phoenix took a 3-1 lead early in the second period. The short-handed Ducks had lost six straight and were playing for the second night in a row after losing 4-1 at home to Chicago on Friday.

Rookie Brandon McMillan’s first NHL goal put Anaheim ahead for good at 4-3 with 13:21 to play. Jason Blake and Corey Perry also scored for Anaheim, and Ryan Getzlaf had four assists.

Shane Doan, Keith Yandle and Scottie Upshall and Derek Morris scored for Phoenix. The Coyotes lost in regulation for the first time in 10 games.

NEWARK, N.J. (AP)—Travis Zajac scored in the fourth round of a shootout, and Johan Hedberg made 40 saves for New Jersey in his fourth straight start with Martin Brodeur sidelined by a bruised elbow.

Adam Mair in regulation to help the Devils win for the third time in four games.

Danny Briere scored on a power-play goal in the third period for Philadelphia.

MONTREAL (AP)—Brian Gionta had two goals and an assist and Carey Price made 34 saves for the Canadiens.

Gionta set up Andrei Kostitsyn’s goal during a two-man advantage in the first, then added goals 4:20 apart in the second to help the Canadiens rebound from a 3-0 loss in Atlanta on Friday.

Kostitsyn had a goal and an assist, and Tomas Plekanec also had two points.

Jordan Leopold scored for Buffalo with 1:13 left.

ST. LOUIS (AP)—Kari Lehtonen stifled St. Louis again, Jamie Benn had another big goal and Dallas beat the Blues to sweep a home-and-home series.

The Stars rallied in the third period for the second straight night, beating Jaroslav Halak on two of their first five shots. Benn tied it and Loui Eriksson scored on a power play for the lead at 5:05.

B.J. Crombeen scored late in the second period for the Blues, who were the last NHL team to lose in regulation at home. St. Louis has 17 points in its first 10 home games, going 8-1-1.

TAMPA, Fla. (AP)—Stephen Weiss scored the winner in the fourth round of a shootout for Florida.

Radek Dvorak scored on a penalty shot, and Dmitry Kulikov and Shawn Matthias also scored in regulation for the Panthers, who stopped a three-game losing streak. Florida went 0 for 4 on the power play and has failed to score in 37 straight opportunities.

Teddy Purcell, Dana Tyrell and Sean Bergenheim scored for Tampa Bay.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP)—Erik Christensen scored the only goal in a shootout to lift the Rangers.

After losing in Tampa Bay on Wednesday, the Rangers shut out Florida on Friday and beat Nashville to close their three-game, four-day trip. The Predators have lost four straight, two in shootouts.

Ryan Callahan scored for New York in regulation, and Colin Wilson connected for Nashville.

OTTAWA (AP)—Mike Fisher scored twice and Brian Elliott made 29 saves for the Senators.

The line of Fisher, Alex Kovalev and Milan Michalek accounted for all the scoring, with Kovalev scoring the other goal and adding two assists and Michalek finishing with two assists.

DENVER (AP)—Greg Mauldin scored two goals to fuel Colorado’s four-goal burst in the second period, and the Avalanche had a season-high goals total to snap a three-game losing streak.

Paul Stastny, Milan Hejduk, Kevin Shattenkirk, David Jones and Matt Duchene also scored for Colorado. Kyle Brodziak scored twice for Minnesota, and Antti Miettinen and Matt Cullen added goals.

EDMONTON (AP)—Dany Heatley had two goals and an assist for San Jose.

Benn Ferriero and Joe Pavelski also scored for San Jose. The Sharks are 11-7-4 overall and 4-4-2 on the road after winning for the first time away from San Jose since beating Edmonton on Oct. 23.

Sam Gagner, Shawn Horcoff and Jim Vandermeer scored for Edmonton. The Oilers have lost eight of their last 10 games to drop to 6-12-4.

 

LOS ANGELES (AP)—Patrick Sharp scored for the fifth time in six games to snap a scoreless tie, Patrick Kane also had a goal and an assist, and Chicago finished it annual “circus trip” 4-2-0.

Corey Crawford started consecutive games for the second time this season and made 21 saves, after stopping 26 shots Friday in a 5-2 victory down the freeway in Anaheim.

He lost his shutout bid with 5:02 remaining when Anze Kopitar beat him high to the glove side with a screened 45-foot slapshot in the slot during a 5-on-3 power play. Crawford has allowed no more than two goals in any of his last six starts

 

Can Coyotes continue potent offense vs. Flames?

	STATS
17	GP	16
7	W	7
5	L	9
5	OT	0
19	P	14
0.559	P%	0.438
2.76	G/G	2.81
3.06	GA/G	3.06
16.4	PP%	14.3
78.3	PK%	83.3
29.6	S/G	30.9
35.2	SA/G	28.8
53.3	FO%	49.5

DATE	VIS/HOME	FINAL
Nov 12, 2010	CGY@PHX	PHX, 5 – 4

COYOTES (7-5-5) at FLAMES (7-9-0)

TV: FS-A (HD), SNET-W (HD)

Last 10: Phoenix 5-3-2; Calgary 4-6-0

Season Series: Second meeting, not only of the season but in a span of six days. Calgary will seek to turn the tables after Phoenix claimed a 5-4 win on its home ice on Nov. 12 with Vernon Fiddler recording his first career hat trick.

Big Story: Fortunes have turned in opposite directions for these teams over the past several weeks. The Coyotes have won three straight and have at least a point in six of the seven games they’ve played this month, while the Flames enter having lost six of seven. And unlike Phoenix, which has gained five extra points from overtime or shootout losses, all of Calgary’s defeats have come in regulation time.

Team Scope:

Coyotes: Lately, a team that rolled to a franchise-record 107 points last season mainly due to its defense and goaltending is winning games thanks to offensive heroics — often by a single player. Phoenix has had three different forwards (Lee Stempniak, Fiddler and Ray Whitney) and one defenseman (Ed Jovanovski) record a hat trick already this season, with Fiddler and Whitney accomplishing the feat on back-to-back nights last week against Calgary and St. Louis. The goals for Whitney were his first with the Coyotes and helped them beat the Blues 5-3 on Saturday.

“The first one wasn’t pretty, and a lot of times those are just what you need to get going,” said Whitney, who factored in on all five Phoenix goals with a pair of assists.

Flames: Back home for a pair after a four-game road trip that saw Calgary lose three of four despite only being outscored by a 13-12 margin, coach Brent Sutter is stressing preparation and the mental side of the game in trying to shake the Flames out of their funk.

“We went through a lot of teaching last year and there’s still a lot of teaching this year but at some point you have to get it,” Sutter said. “You have to understand this is how we need to play, how we have to play.

“You make a mistake, you learn from it and move on and don’t make it again. We have a tendency of making a lot of the same mistakes over and over again and it’s hurt us. We have to wake up to that as it’s affecting us in the win-loss column. We’re certainly not getting enough wins and we certainly need to change that.”

Who’s Hot: With his big night, Whitney (3-8-11) surged into the Coyotes’ scoring lead. … Rene Bourque (8-6-14) leads the Flames in scoring and has 2 goals and 3 assists in their last four games.

Injury Report: Phoenix captain Shane Doan (upper body) and defenseman Kurt Sauer(concussion) are on injured reserve. … Calgary defenseman Adam Pardy (shoulder) and forwards Daymond Langkow (neck), Ryan Stone (knee), Ales Kotalik (knee) and Raitis Ivanans(concussion) are on injured reserve.

Stat Pack: The Coyotes last had back-to-back hat tricks when Jeremy Roenick recorded them against both the Devils and Avalanche in November 1999. … Flames captain Jarome Iginla was a career-worst minus-4 the last time these teams met.

Puck Drop: Whitney, a nine-time 20-goal scorer and two-time 30-goal scorer, was signed over the summer to add more punch to what had often been a feeble Phoenix attack last season, but a nagging hand injury caused him to miss a couple games and contributed to him posting just 6 assists over his first 14 games in the desert.

“I have been through (goal-scoring) droughts before and there were five or six games where I questioned whether I should be in the lineup at all with the injury to my hand,” he said. “I wasn’t quite looking at it as 14 games (without a goal). I did the best I could for about six or seven, but yes, it was starting to weigh on me.”